Katie Boulter breaks down in tears as she dedicates first Wimbledon Centre Court win to nan who died two days ago
KATIE BOULTER broke down in tears as she stunned former world No1 Karolina Pliskova to achieve the greatest win of her career on Centre Court - just two days after the death of her grandmother.
The 25-year-old Leicestershire ace, whose career has been blighted by injury and illness, fought back from a set down to defeat last year’s beaten finalist 3-6 7-6 6-4 and storm through to a Grand Slam third round for the first time.
Boulter had scored her first-ever victory over a top-ten player when she downed the Czech at Eastbourne last week.
And the brilliant blonde recovered from a wonky start to produce an outstanding final set and clinch a minimum cheque of £120,000.
Boulter, whose grandfather Brian was watching courtside, said: “I am literally shaking, the crowd was unbelievable.
“My Gran passed away two days ago and I’d like to dedicate that to her today.
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“It’s a dream come true and hopefully I have many more matches to play, with you guys (the Centre Court crowd) behind me.”
With rain forecast, but never arriving, the match was played beneath the Centre Court roof and began in front of thousands of empty seats, as corporate Pimms-swillers snubbed the Wimbledon action once more.
Boulter broke the Czech in the opening game but then her serve went on the blink as Pliskova reeled off five games in a row en route to a comfortable first-set win.
While the British woman failed to live up to her potential, she did show a sharp eye for umpiring as she successfully overturned three dodgy calls with the aid of Hawkeye.
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One of those was a Boulter ace, which had been incorrectly called out, before Boulter broke to lead 3-1.
But, as in the first set, the Brit was unable to capitalise and there was a scruffy run of four successive service breaks
As Pliskova served to stay in the second set, Boulter executed a superb backhand drop-shot to roars from a partisan crowd but the Czech rediscovered her service power and forced a tie-break.
After Pliskova double-faulted, though, Boulter won a thrilling rally as she stormed into a 4-0 lead and eventually clinched the breaker 7-4.
Boulter saved her best tennis for the deciding set, going toe-to-toe with the Czech as the quality of the encounter improved.
With a succession of thunderous forehands, she forced two break points at 4-4 and after a Pliskova ace, the Brit blasted a forehand return and was serving for the match.
And nervelessly, she nailed her first match point, almost taking the unnecessary roof off of Centre Court.
